A white paper explaining how the UK will legislate Brexit, has been published. It lays out the general terms of what the Great Repeal Bill, designed to enshrine EU law into UK law (or scrap parts of it), will entail. The white paper goes to some lengths to try to reassure the public that protections, from employment to environmental, will be maintained. In particular, EU citizens living in the UK will be protected from day one - but that is not an assurance that the decision is a permanent one.

Read next

In Westminster, a Brexit war is raging in secret WhatsApp groups

ByBen Gartside

The government had already assured the public that the Bill would “amend, repeal and improve” all EU laws where necessary. In reality, this is a vastly complex promise, which has not been explained and has no precedent. There has been no explanation to date of the kind of oversight this process will be subject to, and what option there will be for debate or appeal. There had been fears that basic rights related to employment and climate change, could be under threat.

The simplest path, would be to create a Bill that simply enshrines all EU law into UK law, with the process of picking apart elements to follow. However, a large part of the promise of Brexit was to take back “sovereignty”, which many Conservatives agree means the UK making its own laws. In October, shortly after the Great Repeal Bill was first mentioned in a speech by Theresa May, MP for Welwyn Hatfield Grant Shapps told The Times he wanted a “sunset clause” that would automatically remove any EU-made laws from British law after five years. He wants MPs to have the power to debate and decide upon the fate of all EU law enshrined in British law under the Great Repeal Bill.

Advertisement

In an opening statement in the white paper, released March 30, Theresa May once again talks about forging a “deep and special partnership with the European Union”, now we have broken away from it… She states that the bill has an important role to play in reflecting the stability the UK wants across the business and public sector during the two-year-long divorce process, and beyond. “This clarity will help people to plan effectively, recruit appropriately and invest as necessary while the negotiations continue and the new partnership we will enjoy with the European Union is being formed,” she writes.

As part of that need for clarity, she continues: “The same rules and laws will apply on the day after exit as on the day before. It will then be for democratically elected representatives in the UK to decide on any changes to that law, after full scrutiny and proper debate.”

Advertisement

The Great Repeal Bill

On the day the UK officially leaves Europe, the European Communities Act 1972 will be repealed. According to Brexit Secretary David Davis, also writing in the white paper, this will officially make the UK sovereign again and “the ultimate arbiters of our laws”. Our first move? To convert all EU laws into UK law. Without this, the legal system would be in total disarray. He does, however, note that “wherever practical and sensible” the same laws will apply. Suggesting that at the point of departure some will be rescinded, but only for practical purposes. “[The Great Repeal Bill] is not a vehicle for policy changes – but it will give the government the necessary power to correct or remove the laws that would otherwise not function properly once we have left the EU.”

To ensure that smooth process, additional bills will be introduced over the next two years, but the white paper states that “Parliament has the fullest possible opportunity to scrutinise this legislation” - that includes the Scottish Parliament, which will vote on the bill. The white paper gives several examples of where 'secondary legislation' will be needed - to create a UK customs bill tailored to the country’s needs, for instance, once it is outside of Europe. “Similarly, we will introduce an immigration bill so nothing will change for any EU citizen, whether already resident in the UK or moving from the EU, without Parliament’s approval.”

If the UK wants to significantly change anything, further bills and debates will be needed after the initial work of the Great Repeal Bill and its complementary bills, is done.